Wireless devices, with or without advanced data communication capabilities, are increasingly ubiquitous. Such wireless devices include data messaging devices, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, cellular telephones with data messaging capabilities, wireless Internet appliances, and data communication devices (with or without telephony capabilities). With the increasing ubiquity of such wireless devices, it becomes increasingly important to provide interoperability between these wireless devices and other electronic systems with which the wireless devices interacts.
For example, it is important that a wireless device, such as a data messaging device, be interoperable with the personal computer of the user to enable the user to operate from either the data messaging device or the personal computer, and to switch back and forth between using each device. For this to happen, the data messaging device and the personal computer should preferably automatically update the information stored on each to reflect user operations on the other device. In the case of other wireless devices, such as, for example, a cellular telephone, it is desirable that the cellular telephone be able to interact with other electronic systems, such as the audio system of an automobile. Thus, a user should preferably be able to use a cellular telephone via the microphone and speakers of the automobile, rather than the headset of the cellular telephone itself. This frees the user's hands for driving, and makes using the cellular telephone more convenient.
The interoperability of wireless devices with other electronic systems should not interfere with stand-alone functions of the wireless device, and should be as automatic as possible, such that user input is reduced to a minimum. There remains a need to increase the interoperability of wireless devices with other electronic systems while minimizing any inconvenience to the user.